By Mike Schoby
A decade ago, I found the Holy Grail of 410s in the dusty, seldom frequented, used section of a local gun shop. The owner didn’t really know what he had. I did. Cash exchanged hands and the rest is history. The Grail in question? It was an original Marlin 410, built in 1929. These guns were initially offered as an incentive for investors who bought Marlin stock.
From what I have been able to determine, if an investor bought four shares (at $25 per share) they would receive the gun for free. Timing being everything, 1929 turned out to be a relatively bad year to introduce an incentive tied to stock purchases, and the gun was discontinued in the early 1930s. Less than 10,000 units were ever produced.
The Marlin 410 handles like a shotgun more than a lever-action rifle with its light barrel contour, half magazine, fine front bead and a sweeping, open-style pistol grip.
Winchester and Marlin both tried to recreate this shotgun in the 1990’s to 2000’s, and both offerings fell short from the original. Essentially, they lost all the grace of the original Marlin 410, the balance and liveness, and really both were nothing more than a standard lever-action rifle chambered in .410. They even had front and rear sights. WTF? Ever try wingshooting with front and rear sights? No worky so well.
Henry Lever 410 Shotgun Features
Enter Henry. When I first saw the Henry Lever 410 I knew I had to have it, as it is the closest thing to the original Marlin 410 available. And since I don’t like taking my original out and risk damaging it, I thought this one would be a good working substitute.
After getting one in hand, I was impressed. Walnut stocks, good metal finish, and I noticed several actual improvements over the original. To start with, the Henry has a side loading gate, like the Marlin, but it also has a removable tube so users can load/unload it either from the front like a 22 LR or through the traditional side gate and cycling the action.
The second improvement is the addition of Invector-style, removable choke tubes. I don’t envision shooting anything other than the factory-supplied full choke, but it might be handy for certain scenarios such as slugs or defensive rounds. At least one has options. Other chokes are available on Henry’s site.
Small-Game Getter
The model I purchased is the 24-inch, bead-equipped, six-shot model, but Henry does make another version of this gun—the carbine-length, 20-inch version with a fixed cylinder and semi-buckhorn adjustable sights. I personally don’t care for this version as much, but I guess for some that want to shoot slugs and/or are shooting primarily stationary targets like squirrels or rabbits, the sights and shorter barrel may be desirable.
It’s proven to be a fun and handy gun to have around. Starlings in the backyard with Remington’s incredible Low Decibel offering don’t require hearing protection and doesn’t disrupt the neighbors. Field loads from Remington and Winchester in both 4 and 6 shot sizes are plenty adequate for squirrels and rabbits. I wish this gun was chambered in 3-inch, as it would make an awesome turkey shotgun with Fiocchi’s TSS loads, but I understand the limitation of the action size.
Cost: $979
Pros: Henry kept the lines and functionality of the original Marlin 410.
Cons: Ditch the vented recoil pad; it’s a 2 1/2-inch .410!
